The Brooks Institute was a private for-profit art school in Ventura, California. It was formerly the Brooks Institute of Photography and was originally based in Montecito and Santa Barbara. Brooks Institute offered four majors and two graduate programs. The college was last owned by Gphomestay.

The college abruptly announced it was closing on August 12, 2016. The last term was the summer 2016 semester. Enrollment had declined by 90% to 250 students, completion rates ranged from 3% to 40% by program, and there was controversy surrounding advertising using inflated job placement rates, unusual loan policies, and surprise fees.

History

Brooks family

Brooks Institute of Photography was founded in 1945 by Ernest H. Brooks Sr. over a bakery on State Street in Santa Barbara, California. The school's first photography students were primarily World War II veterans supported by the G.I. Bill. CEC expanded the school. That included the acquisition of an former movie production studio in Ventura in 2002, from which to base the school's motion picture program, later becoming the Ventura Campus for consolidating the entire school.

In 2007, the school changed its name to the Brooks Institute, from the Brooks Institute of Photography.

In 2011, Brooks Institute moved its programs and offices located on the Brooks Jefferson Campus in Santa Barbara to the new Ventura Campus.

Campus consolidation

In 2013 Brooks announced its consolidation of all its educational programs to the Ventura Campus, and departure from Santa Barbara planned for 2015. From the Cota Street Campus in Santa Barbara, it moved its Professional Photography baccalaureate program in Autumn 2013 and MFA in Photography in Autumn 2014 to its now solo Ventura Campus, where the other baccalaureate programs in Film, Graphic Design, and Visual Journalism were already located. In July Gphomestay announced Edward Clift as president, and Victoria Liptak as provost of Brooks. In August 2016, Edward Clift was dismissed as president and a majority of the board of directors resigned. On August 12, 2016, Brooks Institute announced it was closing and canceled the Fall 2016 semester.

Campus and student life

Brooks Institute completed consolidating all its visual arts education programs and facilities for new students onto one campus in the Autumn of 2014, the Ventura Campus, located on North Ventura Avenue in the city of Ventura.

Brooks Institute had two public art galleries that display student, faculty, alumni, and guest photographer work: the Gallery 27 at the former Cota Street Campus in Santa Barbara; and the Visions Gallery in Ventura, operated in conjunction with the Marriott Ventura Beach.

Ventura Campus

The Ventura campus housed faculty and administrative offices and offers serviced such as counseling, financial aid, academic affairs, admissions, accounting, career services and the library.

Up until the mid-1980s, Brooks Institute was the only national level university program regionally accredited to offer a full Bachelor of Arts degree in photographic sciences, underwritten by WASC. But because of financial reporting irregularities discovered during its reaccreditation cycle, Brooks lost its standing with WASC and sought accreditation through other oversight bodies. Ernest Brooks II, president of the institute and son of founder Ernest Brooks, eventually lost control of the institute and surrendered his role as president shortly thereafter.

In August 2008, Brooks Institute successfully completed "Eligibility," the first step to receiving regional accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This application process takes several years and is not a guarantee that the school will ever receive regional accreditation. As of Autumn 2015 Brooks was still without regional accreditation. Brooks was given only a conditional approval to operate for the next two years with a hearing scheduled for February 2006, and ordered to provide "equitable restitution" to students going back to 1999. However, Brooks appealed the decision and at the hearing the judge determining that BPPVE had not complied with the mandatory provisions of the Education Code, and that it had wrongly denied Brooks Institute an opportunity to contest the Bureau's action prior to the time it was imposed. The California Department of Consumer Affairs (which oversees BPPVE) later reached the same conclusion. Although Brooks ultimately received unconditional renewal of its license, it settled with a class action lawsuit for $12,250,000.

Restructuring

In November 2008, Brooks laid off five faculty members and 12 staff members as part of a restructuring. The school reports that its enrollment dropped from 2,300 in 2004 to 1,200 in 2008. The restructuring was in addition to the faculty who had been 'seemingly dismissed' in recent years. Together these created tensions at Brooks Institute going back to January 2007.

In 2015 Gphomestay purchased the Brooks Institute from Career Education Corporation, and appointed new leadership.

Alumni

  • Douglas Bizzaro, Fashion photographer, clients include Jean Paul Gaultier and Chrome Hearts.
  • Mark Mabry, photographer, journalist, and activist.
  • Javier Manzano, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his work in Syria. He has also won two World Press Photo awards.
  • James Neihouse, 1976 Professional Photography graduate, works with IMAX as their director of Photography.
  • Lennette Newell, animal, advertising, fashion, commercial and wildlife photography
  • Holly Randall, photographer, director and producer of pornographic films and podcast host
  • Matt Revolter, film producer & photographer
  • Jeremy Roloff, photographer
  • Kevin Shulman, Writer, Producer, Director
  • Michael Thompson, photographer; clients include W, Details, Allure, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Tiffany & Co., and DeBeers.
  • Theeradej Wongpuapan, Thai actor
  • Zoë Marieh Urness, photographer
  • David Zimmerman, fine-art photographer & filmmaker

The film program at Brooks Institute began in the mid-1950s. Graduates include:

  • Matt Alonzo, music video director
  • Othman Karim, Award-winning Swedish film director and TV personality
  • Isidore Mankofsky, Cinematography for The Muppet Movie and Somewhere in Time
  • Jose Villa, wedding photographer

See also

  • List of art schools
  • Film school

References

  • Defunct